Accessory for a hanger

ABSTRACT

The invention provides an accessory for a hanger which allows the hanger to be adapted to include a number of hook formations which can be used to suspend pieces of clothing such as ties, belts, undergarments or the like.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention described herein generally relates to a supporting deviceand more particularly is concerned with an accessory for a hangeralthough the scope of the invention is not necessarily limited thereto.

BACKGROUND ART

One way of storing a piece of clothing is to hang the piece of clothingon a hanger in a closet. However, traditional hanger designs normallytypically allow for pieces of clothing such as jackets, shirts andtrousers to be easily hung from the hanger. However, such designs canmake it difficult for other pieces of clothing such as ties, skirts andundergarments such as brassieres to be stored in the closet with thehanger. Typically, these types of garments cannot be securely suspendedfrom the hanger and can quite easily fall off the hanger. This can bemost undesirable.

Consequently, hanger designs have been changed to provide features whichallow, for example undergarments, to be suspended from the hanger. Suchimprovements are typically only incorporated into new hangers so thatthe difficulty of suspending pieces of clothing such as undergarmentsfrom existing hangers largely remains.

It will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication isreferred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission thatthe publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art inAustralia or in any other country.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a supporting device, which may atleast partially overcome at least one of the abovementioneddisadvantages or provide the consumer with a useful or commercialchoice.

In a broad form of the invention, there is provided an accessory for ahanger which includes a support structure; the accessory including abody and at least one hook formation which extends from the body; andwherein the body can be engaged with the support structure of the hangerso that the at least one hook formation is suspended from the hanger.

A typical hanger has a support structure which includes a hook memberand a triangular shape structure which has two angled portions and alower or bottom portion which extends between the two angled portions.Pieces of clothing such as jackets and shirts are normally draped overthe angled portions and pieces of clothing such as trousers folded overthe bottom portion.

The accessory according to invention can be engaged with the bottomportion or with the angled portions if required. The accessory isfurthermore detachable from the hanger so that the accessory can be usedtemporarily on other hangers when a user of the accessory goes, forexample, on holidays or business trips. The accessory according toinvention can be relatively easily engaged with the hanger and has asimple construction so that the accessory does not have too many partswhich can break or get lost.

In other forms of hangers, the support structure typically consists ofonly the bottom portion which extends below the hook member. Theaccessory according to invention can equally be used on any othersuitable type of hanger apart from the traditional triangular shapedhanger and the example used of a triangular shaped hanger in thespecification should not be seen as limiting.

In one form of the invention, the body of the accessory may be formedwith a first section and a second section and wherein the body isengaged with the support structure by folding the body over a portion ofthe support structure so that the first and second section arepositioned alongside each other.

In a different form of the invention, the body may be in the form of aframe which includes a first side member and an opposed second sidemember, and a first end member and an opposed second end member; thefirst and second side members and the first and second end members areengaged with each other to form the frame, and wherein the frame isengaged with the support structure by bending the first and second sidemembers over at least a portion of the support structure.

In an example of the invention, the frame is dimensioned so that thefirst and second side members each have a predetermined length so that,once the accessory is engaged with the support structure, the respectivefirst and second side members making up the first and second sectionshave respective lengths which reduce the likelihood of the accessorybeen displaced from engagement with the support structure while a pieceof clothing is being detached from the accessory so that the piece ofclothing is no longer suspended from the support structure by theaccessory. Furthermore, the respective lengths of the first and secondsections may be such so that the at least one hook formation ispositioned relative to an adjacent hanger so that the likelihood of theat least one hook formation getting entangled with the adjacent hangeris reduced.

In an example of the invention, the first and second end members extendbetween the first and second side members. The first and second endmembers may be bendable at any suitable location along a respectivelength of the first and second end members thereby allowing the frame tobe engaged with the support structure. In one form of the invention eachof the first and second side members are bent at a position so that eachof the first and second end members occupy a different horizontal planerelative to each other. In other words, the first and second sidemembers are preferably bent such that the portion of the accessory onone lateral side of the hanger is shorter than the portion of theaccessory on the other lateral side of the hanger.

In a further form of the invention the at least one hook formationincludes a shaft which extends from the body or frame and at least afirst hook member which extends from a free end of the shaft. In adifferent form of the invention, the at least one hook formation furtherincludes at least one second hook member which extends from the free endof the shaft in a direction which is different to a direction in whichthe first hook member extends. For example, the least one second hookmember may extend in a direction which is substantially opposite to thefirst hook member thereby forming a double hook or hook formation inwhich multiple hook members are provided radially about the shaft.

In one embodiment of the invention the accessory includes at least twohook formations so that once the body is engaged with the supportstructure, hook formations on different lateral sides of the hanger arepositioned at different horizontal planes relatively to each other.Alternatively, once the body is engaged with the support structure, onehook formation of the at least two hook formations is positioned on oneside of the support structure and the other hook formation of the atleast two hook formations is positioned on an opposite side of thesupport structure.

In an example of the invention, the first section of the body contains anumber of hook formations which are greater than the number of hookformations on the second section of the body. In use, the hookformations of the first section may be positioned closer to the hangerthan the hook formations of the second section once the body is engagedwith the support structure.

The hook formations may be manufactured from any suitable material sothat the hook formations are imparted with sufficient rigidity to allowone or more pieces of clothing to be suspended through the accessoryfrom the hanger. For example, materials such as a settable plastic or ametal or a composite metal may be used in the manufacture of the hookformations.

One or more portions of the body may be flexible or malleable. The bodymay be partially rigid or parts of the body may be rigid. In particular,the hook formations may be substantially rigid and the remainder of theaccessory may be flexible, or rigid. The entire accessory may be rigid.The accessory may be pre-folded in order to have a curved portion toengage the hanger to locate the accessory.

Typically, the accessory will be available in two configurations, asubstantially rigid configuration for more permanent use and a “travel”configuration in which either the hook formations are rigid and theremainder is flexible or the accessory may be modular to allow assemblyfor use and disassembly for travel.

Any suitable technique can be used to suspend the body from the hanger.In one example the body can incorporate one or more retaining formationswhich allow the body to be engaged and thereby being suspended from thehanger. Alternatively, when the body is folded over the supportstructure, the body may include one or more joints which allow the bodyto be folded over part of the support structure. The one or more jointsmay be formed using any suitable technique such as by reducing thethickness of the material forming the one or more joints relative to theremainder of the body so that when sections of the body on either sideof the one or more joints are pivoted towards each other about the oneor more joints, the body is likely to fold on the one or more joints dueto the reduced thickness of the material.

In the example of the invention when the accessory is folded over thebottom portion of the hanger, the one or more retaining formations issuch that the accessory is engaged with the support structure in a waythat reduces the amount of transverse movement which the accessory mayhave relative to the hanger. In other words, the accessory should betightly folded over the bottom portion so that the accessory is almostclamped onto the bottom portion. The at least one retaining formation,when viewed from a side, should have a profile which is rounded asopposed to squared or angled.

In another example, the one or more joints can be manufactured from apliable material such as a suitable plastics material. The first andsecond sections of the body are then secured to each other through theone or more joints thereby allowing the first and second sections to bemanufactured from a more rigid material such as a metal if required. Anysuitable technique can be used to attach the first and second sectionsto the one or more joints if these components are manufactured fromdifferent materials, for example, by using rivets, bolts gluing,suitable fasteners such as nuts and bolts, or the like.

The body may be flexible and provided with rigid or semi-rigid hookformations. The hook formations may be weighted to assist with locationof the assembly on the hanger. The body may be manufactured from anysuitable material including a fabric and the at least one hook formationmay be manufactured from a more rigid material such as a plastic or ametal.

The body may be substantially planar when in an unfolded positionthereby allowing one or more accessories to be stacked on to each otherrelatively easily. The planar configuration of the accessory whenunfolded also allows the accessory to have a reduced height when viewedin elevation from a side of the accessory.

The material used in the manufacture of the accessory may be treatedusing any suitable technique to reduce the likelihood of the materialused in the manufacture of accessory from damaging a garment which issuspended from the accessory, for example by staining it when theaccessory is rusted. In one example, the accessory may be coveredentirely or partly, for example only the at least one hook formation,with a suitable plastics material.

In another form of the invention, the body is engaged with the supportstructure by suspending the accessory from the support structure usingone or more hooks.

Any of the hook formations may be rotatably associated with theaccessory.

Attachment portions may be provided on the accessory such that when theaccessory is located relative to the hanger, the attachment portionsprevent accidental removal or dislodgement. The attachment portions arepreferably provided on portions of the accessory which will be adjacentone another when the accessory is folded.

Any of the features of the invention disclosed herein may be claimed inany combination with any of the other features.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments of the invention will be described with reference tothe following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an accessory according to the invention in aninoperative, unfolded configuration.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the accessory in an operative, foldedconfiguration and being engaged with a support structure of a hanger.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a variation of an accessory according to theinvention.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of an accessory according to an alternativeembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of an accessory according to a furtheralternative embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of an accessory according to still a furtheralternative embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of an accessory according to yet a furtheralternative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, an accessory for a hanger is provided.

FIG. 1 of the accompanying representations illustrates an accessory 10according to the invention which includes a body or frame 12 and aplurality of hook formations 14 each of which extends from the frame.Each hook formation includes a shaft 16 which extends from the frame andat least one hook member 18 which extends from a free end 20 of theshaft. Some hook formations 14A include two hook members one of whichextends in a first direction 24 and the other extending in a second,opposite direction 26. Consequently, when the hook formation 14A isviewed along the length of the shaft 16 the hook formations 18 occupysubstantially the same plane as that of the shaft.

The frame 12 includes a first side member 26 and an opposed, second sidemember 28, a first end member 30 and an opposed, second end member 32.The first and second side members and first and second end members areengaged with each other to form the frame. Each of the first and secondside members includes a joint 34 which allows the frame to be foldedabout a fold line 36 so that the frame includes a first section 38 and asecond section 40.

The joint 34 of each of the first and second side members 26 and 28 ismanufactured from any suitable material which allows the first andsecond sections 38 and 42 to be movable relative to each other about thefold line 36. Typically a plastics material may be used which allows thefirst and second side members to be bent a number of times at therespective joints 34 without breaking. In order to simplify manufactureof the accessory 10 the remainder of the frame (i.e. the first andsecond sections 38 and 40 including each of the hook formations 18) canbe manufactured from the same material as used in the joints 34. Itshould however be noted that this example is merely used forillustrative purposes and should not be seen as limiting since theremainder of the frame can be manufactured from a different materialsuch as a metal and which is thereafter joined, that is the first andsecond sections, to each other through the joint 34 using any suitabletechnique such as gluing, rivets, nuts and bolts or the like.

In FIG. 1 the accessory 10 is shown in an inoperative or un-foldedconfiguration 44 and in FIG. 2 the accessory shown in an operative orfolded position 46.

In FIG. 2 the accessory 10 is shown ready for use and has been engagedwith a bottom or lower portion 48 of a support structure 50 forming ahanger 52. Reconfiguring the frame 12 into the folded configuration 46forms a retaining formation 54 at each joint 34 with which the accessorycan be engaged with the hanger. In this way the first section 38 issuspended on one side from the hanger and the second section 40 issuspended on an opposite side of the hanger. Additionally, the fold line36 is suitably chosen so that the hook formations 14 of the firstsection are offset with the hook formations of the second section 40. Inother words, the first end member 30 substantially occupy a firsthorizontal plane 56 which is lower than a second horizontal plane 58which is substantially occupied by the second end member 32. The offsetof the hooks 14 of the first and second sections 38 and 40 reduces thelikelihood of the hooks getting entangled or caught up with each other.

Each retaining formation 54 also has an inner width 60 which is largeenough to allow the accessory to be fitted to hangers 52 which haveportions 48 of different sizes.

In the unfolded configuration 44 the accessory 10 is substantiallyplanar when viewed from a side. This allows the accessory when in thisconfiguration to be stored relatively flat thereby allow the accessoryto be more easily stored without requiring a large volume to do so.Additionally, the planar structure of the accessory in the unfoldedconfiguration allows a plurality of accessories to be stored more easilyon top of each other and reducing the space required to store a numberof accessories. The first and second sections 38 and 40 are suitablydimensioned so that the hook members 18 are positioned a predetermineddistance from the hanger to which the accessory 10 is engaged so thatthe likelihood is reduced of the hook members from getting entangledwith an adjacent hanger when a piece of clothing suspended from theaccessory is removed. Typically the hook members 18 are lower than across member of the hanger. Additionally, the first and second sections38 and 40 will also have a length so that the likelihood is reduced ofthe accessory disengaging from the hanger when clothing suspended fromthe accessory is removed.

A variation 10A of accessory according to the invention is shown in FIG.3. Like reference numerals are used to designate like components ofaccessories 10 and 10A, unless where otherwise indicated. The hookmembers 18 which are carried in accessory 10 by the first and secondside members 26 adjacent the first end member 30, are replaced withhooks 64 with which the accessory 10A can be suspended from hanger. Thehooks 64 are screwed into the respective free ends 20. In this way theaccessory 10A is engaged in the unfolded configuration 44 to the hangerso that clothing can be suspended from the accessory from the hookmembers 18 extending from the second end member 32. This will allow theaccessory 10A to be suspended, for example, from a hanger which allowsclothing to be suspended from a door.

The invention provides an accessory which can be engaged with the hangerso that the hanger is adapted to include a number of hook formationswith which piece of clothing such as ties, belts, or undergarments suchas braziers can be suspended from the hanger. The accessory can also besuspended from hangers having supporting structures of different sizes,for example thin hangers made from plastic and thicker hangers made fromwood.

In the present specification and claims (if any), the word “comprising”and its derivatives including “comprises” and “comprise” include each ofthe stated integers but does not exclude the inclusion of one or morefurther integers.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, theappearance of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” invarious places throughout this specification are not necessarily allreferring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features,structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner inone or more combinations.

In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described inlanguage more or less specific to structural or methodical features. Itis to be understood that the invention is not limited to specificfeatures shown or described since the means herein described comprisespreferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is,therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within theproper scope of the appended claims (if any) appropriately interpretedby those skilled in the art.

1. An accessory for a hanger which includes a support structure; theaccessory including a body and at least one hook formation which extendsfrom the body; wherein the body is configured as a frame including afirst side member and an opposed second side member, and a first endmember and an opposed second end member and wherein the first and secondside members are at least partially arcuate to extend over at least aportion of the support structure so that the frame is engaged with thesupport structure and such that the at least one hook formation issuspended from the hanger.
 2. An accessory as claimed in claim 1 whereinthe body of the accessory is formed with a first section and a secondsection and wherein the body is engaged with the support structure byfolding the body over a portion of the support structure so that thefirst and second section are positioned adjacent each other.
 3. Anaccessory as claimed in claim 2 wherein the respective lengths of thefirst and second sections differs.
 4. An accessory as claimed in claim 1wherein the body is configured as a frame including a first side memberand an opposed second side member, and a first end member and an opposedsecond end member and wherein the frame is engaged with the supportstructure by bending the first and second side members over at least aportion of the support structure.
 5. An accessory as claimed in claim 4wherein the first and second side members are deformable at a positionso that each of the first and second end members occupy a differenthorizontal plane relative to each other.
 6. An accessory as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the body is at least partially rigid.
 7. An accessory asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the hook formations are substantially rigid.8. An accessory as claimed in claim 1 wherein one or more portions ofthe body is flexible.
 9. An accessory as claimed in claim 1 wherein theentire accessory may be rigid.
 10. An accessory as claimed in claim 1wherein the accessory is pre-folded in order to have a curved portion toengage the hanger to locate the accessory.
 11. An accessory as claimedin claim 1 wherein the accessory is modular to allow assembly for useand disassembly for travel.
 12. An accessory as claimed in claim 1wherein the accessory is clamped onto support structure.
 13. Anaccessory as claimed in claim 1 wherein the hook formations are weightedto assist with location of the accessory relative to the supportstructure.
 14. An accessory as claimed in claim 1 wherein the body isengaged with the support structure by suspending the accessory from thesupport structure using one or more hooks.
 15. An accessory as claimedin claim 1 wherein any of the hook formations is rotatably associatedwith the accessory.
 16. An accessory as claimed in claim 1 whereinattachment portions are provided on the accessory such that when theaccessory is located relative to the support structure, the attachmentportions prevent accidental removal or dislodgement.
 17. An accessory asclaimed in claim 1 wherein attachment portions are provided on portionsof the accessory which are adjacent one another when the accessory isfolded.